Digital Signature is a method of signing a document virtually without physical presence! As per Section 3, IT Act 2000, of the Indian Govt. Digital Signature came into the limelight.

Convincingly, healthcare providers have found huge success in utilizing Digital Signatures for everything, from data distribution and emergency response to advertising and donor recognition.

However, change is coming to the healthcare sector. Nowadays, notes are taken in a digital format, appointments are confirmed via email, and health data is exchanged between healthcare providers electronically. 

While this trend is welcome and overdue, it poses new challenges. Personal health information is some of the most worthy of protection: it needs to be secure, while also being readily accessible. It needs to be stored, often for many years, and must comply with potentially evolving government regulations. 

Digital transformation is only truly possible if existing processes can move to a digital era. This requires trust, security and privacy. 

 

 

The impactful Benefits of Digital Signature within the Healthcare Industry

1. Patient Experience– Digital signature in the patient rooms provides a wealth of advantages to each doctor and patient. It is safe and faster and appropriate for the medical industry.

2. Way finding- Interactive digital way finding displays or kiosks will facilitate easily guiding these guests to their destinations by providing a process including directions. This helps improve guests and patient expertise, lower anxiety, and mitigate way finding interruptions to employees.

3. Wait Times-Few things are worse than being asked to sit down and wait for care once you’re sick or injured. Luckily, digital signature has huge positive effects on patients’ or visitors’ waiting room experiences.

4. Patient and Visitor Perception– For several folks, coming into a hospital, physician’s workplace or treatment facility will be a nerve-wracking experience. Digital signature will give guests peace of mind regarding the service they’re progressing to receive and improve their overall expertise by presenting the power as progressive.

5. Staff Communication- For many tending environments, particularly hospitals, the distribution of vital info will be a challenge. Digital Signature offers a straightforward and effective method for these facilities to confirm that messages like updated policies, emergency notifications, new treatment info, and upcoming continuing education opportunities.

How can digital signatures be used in the medical field to improve patient care and safety?

·         Easily send & organize important medical documents 

Do you need to send a prescription or authorize a new treatment? Digital signatures improve interactions with patients by making it easier and faster to send important documents. From patient intake forms to communication with a colleague, offering e-signature solutions means medical documents can be signed anywhere, at any time, on any device. Another benefit of using digital documents is that they are easily organized, archived, and retrieved. All of this in a fraction of the time it would take with physical documents.

·         Securely track digital signatures

Digital signatures are a secure way to send, receive, and track health information. They offer strengthened compliance and protection of patient data because documents are tamper-evident and HIPAA compliant, making them more secure than the average paper-based transactions. It’s easy to tell if a document has been changed after it was signed because they are embedded with a Certified Hash and Qualified Timestamp. These are found in the Audit Trail that is received via email with each signed document.

The Audit Trail contains a record of all the actions that have been taken on a particular document. This also allows organizations to track who has accessed or modified a document, and when they did so. Making it easier to organize and keep track of who has signed off on a document and when they did so helps ensure all approvals are properly documented. 

·         Save time, resources, and money

Digital signatures also eliminate the need for printing, scanning, and faxing documents. Assisting the administrative burden of healthcare staff in this way also reduces the risk of mistakes and gives more time for patient care. As well as saving time, resources and money are saved by reducing the amount of paper used. After considering all material and other costs, businesses that migrated to e-Signature solutions found savings that ranged between 55 and 78 percent.

Which medical forms can you sign with a digital signature?

·         Patient on boarding forms

·         Medical history forms

·         Medical release forms

·         Purchasing contracts

·         Pharmaceutical distribution

·         HIPAA forms